Bloom's Taxonomy - EL 751 Lumley

Benjamin Bloom's entire learning theory will be discussed in part throughout this page. However, the main section that will be focused on is that of Bloom's Taxonomy, as it is most applicable to the education realm.

History of Benjamin Bloom

Benjamin Bloom was born in 1913 in Lansford, Pennsylvania (Bellis, 2019). "Bloom student at Pennsylvania State University, where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees. He received his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1942" (Stevens-Fulbrook, 2020, p. 257). During his career, Bloom served as the director of the examining board for the University of Chicago, as well as founded the MESA (measurement, evaluation, statistical analysis) program (Stevens-Fulbrook, 2020).

Bloom's Learning Theory

When Benjamin Bloom created his learning theory, his main objective was to align curricula, educational goals, and assessment that is used in schools. "The aim was also to help educators to teach learners how to analyze, create and evaluate concepts, processes, procedures and principles rather than just understanding and remembering facts and concepts" (Anon, as cited in Bester, 2020, p. 2).

Bloom's learning theory is divided into three main domains. They are "the cognitive domain (knowledge), the affective domain (attitudes) and the psychomotor domain (skills) (Stevens-Fulbrook, 2020, p. 315). Within the cognitive domain, there are six categories that make up Bloom's Taxonomy that are sectioned by hierarchy of difficulty to promote learning. While all three domains will be briefly discussed, the primary domain that is the focus of this page is the Cognitive Domain and Bloom's Taxonomy.

Breakdown of Bloom's Theory and Taxonomy

The Cognitive Domain (Knowledge)

The Cognitive Domain is what is most commonly referred to as Bloom's Taxonomy. The original structure of Bloom's taxonomy was as follows: 1) Knowledge (previously learned material), 2) Comprehension (grasping the material), 3) Application (using the material), 4) Analysis (understanding the content and structure of the material), 5) Synthesis (putting parts of material together to form a whole), and 6) Evaluation (judging the value of the material for a purpose). This has since been revised in 2001, using verbs and action words to better support learning objectives (Bellis, 2019).

Revised Bloom's Taxonomy (as structured by Armstrong, 2020)

1. Remember
   • Recognizing, Recalling
2. Understand
   • Interpreting, Exemplifying, Classifying, Summarizing, Inferring, Comparing, Explaining
3. Apply
   • Executing, Implementing
4. Analyze
   • Differentiating, Organizing, Attributing
5. Evaluate
   • Checking, Critiquing
6. Create
   • Generating, Planning, Producing

The Affective Domain (Attitudes)

"This domain addresses the issues of the emotional component of learning and ranges from a basic willingness to receive information to the integration of beliefs, ideas, and attitudes" (Stevens-Fulbrook, 2020, p. 401). This domain overall focuses on stimuli, beliefs, and values that may be taken account of when examining any student, and may directly affect their learning style.

The Psychomotor Domain (Skills)

"The psychomotor domain refers to human movement from a psychological perspective... [it] is concerned with how we recognize the world around us using our bodies and senses" (Stevens-Fulbrook, 2020, p. 440). This domain discusses how an individual becomes competent in a physical task, such as observing, performing independently, then naturalizing a movement.

Implications for the Classroom

One of the main goals of Bloom's Taxonomy is to help "teachers understand and divide questions evenly to ensure that learners with different learning styles are equally assessed on the work that were taught and learned" (Bester, 2020, p. 3). This helps us as teachers to ensure that we are diversifying our classroom to accommodate various learning types, while at the same time providing a continuity of assessment and feedback.

References

Armstrong, Patricia (2020). Bloom's taxonomy. Vanderbilt University. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/

Bellis, Mary (2019). Benjamin Bloom: Critical Thinking and Critical Thinking Models. ThoughtCo.com. https://www.thoughtco.com/benjamin-bloom-critical-thinking-models-4078021

Bester, Sune (2020). Understanding Bloom's taxonomy.

Bilon, Edmund, Ph.D. (2019). Using Bloom's taxonomy to write effective learning objectives: The ABCDs of writing learning objectives: A basic guide. Edmund Bilon.

Heick, Terry (2020, May 1). What is Bloom's taxonomy? A definition for teachers. Teachthought.com. https://www.teachthought.com/learning/what-is-blooms-taxonomy-a-definition-for-teachers/

Lasley, Thomas J., II (2014, April 28). Bloom's taxonomy. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Blooms-taxonomy

Stevens-Fulbrook, Paul (2020). Vygotsky, Piaget and Bloom: The definitive guide to their educational theories and examples of how they can be applied. Independently published.

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